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THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
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they force these societies to adapt. This requires
people to have special knowledge, skills and
abilities so that they can function in the “new
digital world”. More and more tasks are being
performed by machines and new tasks for peo-
ple are emerging that demand new skills.
The technological revolution not only influ-
ences production regimes and individuals, but
also has a far-reaching impact on society as a
whole and on social protection systems. If the
production regime changes, this generates spe-
cific problems, difficulties and needs that need
to be compensated for by the state and society.
This usually takes place via welfare systems be-
cause capitalism and welfare state are two sides
of one and the same coin (Offe, 1972), their spe-
cific institutional arrangements are closely inter-
twined. Both systems – the industrial production
system and the welfare state redistribution sys-
tem of social protection – are subject to digital
change. However, whereas production systems
change and adapt rapidly, the redistribution sys-
tems of welfare states are path-dependent and
persistent. As a result, existing welfare state
structures are coming under pressure and having
to adjust. Here, digitalisation essentially has two
different impacts on the welfare state:
– Digital transformation is creating a new age
of industrial production, “Industry 4.0”. This
can be termed an external modernisation ef-
fect on welfare states. By altering production
and disseminating information and commu-
nication technologies and automation, new
demands arise for labour in general and for
employees in particular (
cf.
Autor, 2015).
The processing of these changes and chal-
lenges needs to be supported by the welfare
state.
– Digitalisation of the welfare state is causing
internal modernisation effects. They are related,
on one hand, to the digitalised administration
of welfare and the technical environment,
such as the proliferation of internet connec-
tions and broadband expansion. On the other
hand, internal modernisation involves devel-
oping the individual skills and abilities that
digitalisation requires with regard to informa-
tion pro-cessing, in order, for example, to
take part in the community and the labour
market. The question of how the welfare
state handles (new) social inequalities –
known as the “digital divide” – and what so-
lutions might be found to counter the effects
of digitalisation goes hand in hand with this.
If external and internal modernisation are in
equilibrium, social innovation (i.e. work 4.0)
could also arise from technical innovation (i.e.
industry 4.0). This not only drives Industry 4.0,
but also transforms the welfare state in the di-
rection of Welfare 4.0?
The worlds of welfare capitalism
In comparative welfare state research, a distinc-
tion is made between different types of welfare
state (
cf.
Buhr and Stoy, 2015). They reflect the
relevant experiences of each state’s national po-
litical and social history, as well as the political
balance of power. Here, the emphasis is on the
seminal work done by Danish sociologist Gøsta
Esping-Andersen (1990), which resonated
widely and is still of great significance today. His
“three worlds of welfare capitalism” categorise
states as either “liberal”, “conservative” or “so-
cial democratic”. Each of these types follows a
historically evolved development path and has
its own logic with regard to the organisation of
social policies, pattern of social stratification
and inequality (in particular in the employment
system), and forms of social integration or ex-
clusion (Schmid, 2010). Esping-Andersen (
cf.